Con Gone Wrong
by Carter-Shiraz
Summary: What happens when two lying charlatans cheat peasants out of their money daily, end up with much more than they bargained for after one particular job. Not yaoi, CloTi and Zerith. set in medieval times
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello everyone! This is a story I've been working on for a while. I initially didn't want to post it until I finished Strange Clouds, but lately I've been having a bit of a block with that!

This is just a small something to give me a break from SC for the time being! I'm near the end so it won't be long, as I am determined to finish it!

A few notes on this story, its set in medievel times, more along the lines of the older Final Fantasy games with the FFVII characters. I've been reading R.A. Salvatore and similar works and as such have been heavily inspired.

The first few chapters are based partly on Barb and JC Hendee's Noble Dead series, although that dealt with undead (vampires fucking die in sunlight! They do not sparkle!) Also apart from that little outburst, there is no swearing or lemony scenes in this fic, so its just clean fun and fantasy violence!

Enjoy y'all

XXX

Nibelheim. A quiet, sleepy mountain town. A biting chill was in the wind that night and the bright-eyed, blonde man was forced to clutch his wolf-skin cloak closer to his body to preserve precious heat, as he stood outside a (relatively) large house in the small town, the snow made it difficult to see.

He knocked on the door of a relatively large stone house. He barely heard the sound over the roar of the wind.

"Who goes there?" A barely audible voice asked from behind the door.

"You're salvation," the blonde young man replied.

The door opened a crack and a middle-aged man with dark hair and ruby-red eyes opened the door. "Who are you and what business do you have here?" He demanded.

"My name is Cloud Strife, and I come to rid your town of the horror that plagues it," the young man answered.

"Come in," the man said, opening the door and allowing him to enter.

The room was lit with a few candles and a warm fire crackled in the stone fireplace. Cloud barely had enough time to enjoy the warmth, before the man rushed him into a nearby room where other elderly men were waiting. He heard them muttering about the large sword the man carried on him. Almost as large as he was and just as wide, the Buster Sword was an intimidating sight.

The man that had shown him in, obviously the town's mayor, wrung his hands frantically. "Well, welcome to Nibelheim Master Strife."

"Let's skip the pleasantries," Cloud interjected quickly. "I don't have much time on my hands. You have a monster running loose in the woods, stealing your livestock. I can get rid of that monster."

The village elders looked pleased. "Thank you, Master Strife!" One said.

"How can we ever repay you?" An older woman asked.

"Rest assured you will," Cloud answered harshly. "My price is twenty pieces of silver."

The village elders looked shocked at the proclamation.

"That's an outrage!" The mayor burst out. "We won't have any money for next year's crop if we agree to that!"

"That's none of my concern," Cloud answered calmly, he was used to this by now. "The materials I require are costly, not to mention the enormous risk to my person if I am to combat this monster."

The village elder's muttered angrily amongst themselves.

"You could always choose not to pay," Cloud said to the elders, instantly quelling the mutterings. "I can be on my way. But remember, this beast is stealing your livestock. What happens when he has no more livestock to kill..."

He let that last bit hang in the air. The elders looked terrified and alarmed at his blunt proclamation.

"We'll starve!" One elder shouted at him.

Unintimidated, Cloud turned and stared right back at the offender. He was a burly and well-built man, despite being in his waning years, with a shock of hair that was more gray than red. He approached Cloud, but the warrior did not even flinch and stood strong against him. "Its not my concern," he repeated.

"How can you be so heartless!" The old man's voiced cracked.

"Heartless?" Cloud asked. "So, is that what you think?"

The elders went silent. Cloud's tone was calm, but his eyes were bright and dangerous at them. "I have travelled all the way from Midgar to help this village, at great personal risk, and yet you called me HEARTLESS?! I am prepared to lay my life on the line for every each and one of you. I am prepared to rid this village of the monster before it can wipe everyone out, all I ask is due compensation, yet I am heartless?"

His tone was quiet, but the menace in his voice was clear.

The mayor looked to be shaking. "You must understand, without the money for the next crop, we could starve!"

"Better to be hungry and alive, then dead," Cloud replied bluntly. "I have given you the option. All I can do now, is await your descision."

He stood back, his hand on the hilt of his Buster Sword, which was strapped to his back with a special leather sheath. He heard the villager's voices as the argued and deliberated.

He saw the red-haired old man arguing vehemently. This man was against his appointment. Cloud couldn't really blame the man. But he knew, as did all those in attendance, what their descision would be.

A hush fell across the room, the village elders had come to a descision.

"Master Strife," the mayor said, his voice sounding eerily loud, despite the storm. "We have agreed to allow you to rid us of this monstrosity."

Cloud nodded and made to turn away, but the mayor had not quite finished.

"However, we implore you to reconsider your price!" The mayor said, clearly begging.

Cloud turned back to the old man, his eyes steely. "Would you lower your crop prices for those who begged? Even though you yourself may be at risk of starving if you agree?"

The mayor looked confused at the words.

"Its much the same story for me," Cloud went on, holding out his gloved hand.

The mayor's hands were visibly shaken as he handed the young mercenary a small bag of coins.

"It is done, when will you begin?" The mayor asked.

Cloud checked the bag of coins and smirked.

"Now!"

XXX

Cloud stood in the middle of the town, ignoring the biting chill of the wind. He drew his Buster Sword from its sheath on his back.

"Do you plan to wait for the monster to just appear and defeat it with no livestock as bait?" The red-haired man was back. He was staring at Cloud with a hard gaze, evidently still bitter with parting with his hard earned coin.

Cloud inwardly rolled his eyes. He considered not answering. After all, why did he need to explain himself to some ignorant peasant?

"Of course not! I plan to lure it out with the materials I have," he answered eventually, pulling a small sack out of his cloak.

Without further ado, he tossed it into the air and slashed it with his sword. A cloud of some red substance appeared, somehow staying there despite the harsh winds.

"Blood," he spoke aloud, for the villager's benifit. "It will not resist!"

Not even the red-haired man said anything. All caught up in the thrall of the young mercenary. His ice-blue eyes flicked left and right, piercing through the snowstorm, searching.

For nearly ten minutes, nothing happened. The villagers looked visibly bored and the red-haired old man looked scornfull and on the verge of scoffing.

Without warning a roar sounded through the village. Cloud whipped in the direction of the sound, the fire in his eyes could have melted the surrounding snow. The villagers looked panic-striken at the sound. It sounded bestial, yet almost human.

Through the snowy haze an immense figure appeared. It had the head of a boar, yet was covered in shaggy, bear-like fur. It walked menacingly at the group.

A few villagers shrieked and fled to the safety of their stone houses. Cloud remained calmed and moved into a fighting stance.

The monster gave another ferocious roar and charged. It swiped long claws at the young mercenary, who swiftly side-stepped the blow, but was forced to dive into a roll as the creature attacked once more.

More screamed echoed around the town. The monster roared again and turned to face the young mercenary again. It charged again, but this time Cloud was ready, he jumped out of the creatures reach and rushed forward while it was still off-balance. The creature managed to get out of the way, and rushed him again, knocking him off his feet.

Cloud tried to roll out from it, but it the creature had pinned him down. Without skipping a beat, he spat in the creature's eye. Momentarily blinded, the monster roared and Cloud managed to slip out from under it. But he had enraged the creature further and with one swipe it send him flying into one of the house's wall. He dropped his sword and it lay helplessly on the snowy ground.

The creature once more went on the offensive, but Cloud rolled out of the way at the last moment, leading the creature to hit the wall. Momentarily dazed, it staggered as Cloud ran to his sword.

Finally regaining its bearings, the creature charged, Cloud rolled between its legs and came up behind it. With a cry, he leapt into the air and twirled bringing his massive sword down onto the creature's exposed neck.

The monster gave one last howl as its head parted from its body. Blood shot from the severed neck, staining the snow a bright crimson. The body flailed, before laying still. Panting slightly, Cloud straightened, planting his sword into the ground.

"It is done!" He declared.

The villagers came rushing forward to look at the corpse.

"Master Strife, have you seen a creature like this before?" The mayor asked.

"No, mayor. I have not," Cloud replied, gazing intently at the creature. "I will need to take the carcass with me, for further study!"

The mayor nodded. "Take the corpse to Master Strife's wagon immediately!" He ordered a few young men. The hurriedly complied. "How can we ever thank you?"

"Spread word of my exploits and be sure to send word for me, should a similar creature appear," Cloud replied impassively. "I will be leaving within the hour!"

The mayor nodded once more. "I understand! I wish you luck on your journey!"

Cloud made no answer.

XXX

He was about a mile from Nibelheim, dragging the corpse of the monster behind him, before it suddenly spoke.

"Gee Cloud, did you have to hit me that hard?!"

Cloud whipped around blue eyes blazing. "You irritating half-wit! The plan was for me to end it quickly. You nearly ruined the entire thing!"

"I thought it would better if we gave them a bit of a show," the creature grumbled, as a human head stuck out of the bloody mass of fur. Cloud gave a solid glare as a black mass of spikey hair erupted.

"Well your little show just landed me more than a few bruises!" Cloud snapped.

Violet eyes gazed balefully at him. "Mean! And you had to drag me through this godcursed snow instead of putting me in the wagon as usual!"

"Serves you right!"

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! Now will you get me out of this?"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Next time you feel like improvising...don't!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Zack?"

"Okay fine! Won't happen again! Happy?"

"Reasonably so," Cloud muttered, before going about setting up camp.

Neither of them noticed a pair of red eyes narrow from behind the trees.

XXX

By the time Cloud had unloaded the horses and got a fire going, the sun had set.

Zack ambled about in boredom, now free of his monstrous costume.

"So, you up for a spar tonight?" Zack asked conversationally.

"Nah, I'm not in the mood," Cloud answered wearily.

"Yeah well I guess it won't hurt if we skip one day," Zack answered. He soon began fidgeting.

Cloud sighed. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing, nothing," Zack said, absently staring into the fire.

"Zack if you keep on fiddling like that your gonna drive me crazy, so spill it!"

"Okay! Jeez!" Zack said, looking a little alarmed. "I've just been thinking-"

"You do realise that's dangerous for you right?"

Violet eyes narrowed. "I'm gonna ignore that, but anyway. Don't you ever feel that maybe, we live the wrong way!"

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with the way we live!"

"Y'know, sneaking down to some peasant village letting their livestock dissapear, then staging this whole rigamarole! My mother used to warn me about charlatans growing up, now I've become one of them!"

"And this is what's bothering you?" Cloud asked.

Zack shrugged. "Its just been a nagging thought for a while now."

"You never mentioned this before though."

"It sorta never came up in conversation."

"It didn't come up now," Cloud pressed.

"Yeah, well I had to just say it to get it outta my mind!" Zack protested.

"Relax," Cloud said with a laugh. "I'm just teasing you."

They were silent for a while, before Cloud broke the silence. "Zack, everything we have in life, we've had to fight for. When has anyone ever given us anything without seeking something in return. Even now, we're the worst sort of criminal there is: deserters! I don't see why we should be any different to the rest of them?"

The rest of his speech was lost in a small snort. Both men, immediately tensed at the noise.

"I'll be right back," Cloud whispered tersely, shouldering his Buster Sword as he walked towards the sound of the noise.

Scarcely a few minutes later he returned.

"It appears we have a little eavesdropper," he said tossing a form on the ground.

Zack peered curiously at the bundle of clothes on the floor.

"Oh boy, looks like this is gonna get a whole lot more complicated!"

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Cloud's a bit meaner here isn't he? It feels a bit more familiar to be totally honest! So what do y'all think? Tell me in a review!


	2. Chapter 2

AUTHOR'S NOTE: well I hope y'all enjoyed the first chapter. Once I started the first one, I couldn't help but write a second just to keep the flow going. Also as usual my blackberry caved on me again so I lost most of chapter 32 on SC so I'm gonna have to start from scratch again (angry grumble).

Anyway this is more of a lighter tone chapter, my grammar might shift occasionally from the formal english typically used in those times to more colloquiall, but its purposeful, almost like Mirror Mirror or even Dissidia I guess.

So anyway please review and I hope y'all enjoy!

XXX

Zack looked at the small figure on the ground and hesistantly jabbed it with his toe.

The lump gave a small squeak and immediately got to its feet, staring at him reproachfully.

Zack saw that it was a young boy. He had pale skin and a slight build, emphasised clearly by the overlarge clothing he wore; a shirt that dropped almost to mid-thigh and a pair of leather breeches than did fit. The most perculiar garment the boy wore was a turban of some purple fabric that had been wrapped around his head.

"Alright, now spill!" Cloud's voice was low and calm, but the menace was clear.

The boy looked at Cloud with apprehension, yet no fear shone in his eyes.

Zack, seeing Cloud's eyes darken by the challenge quickly stepped in. "Your doing this the wrong way!" He snapped. "What's your name?" He asked, not unkindly.

The boy just glared.

Zack scratched the back of his head, a nervous habit of his, thinking how best to deal with this unexpected turn of events. "We don't want to hurt you-"

"Tell that to this spike-headed jerk!" The boy spat, looking at Cloud.

Before Cloud could react, Zack once more stepped in. "He won't hurt you unless you make things difficult for us! Now I'm going to ask again: what's your name?"

Cloud slapped his hand on the hilt of his sword, the boy's bravado vanished. "Roy!" He squeaked. "My name is Roy," he continued in a stronger voice.

Zack nodded. "Roy, now why were you spying on us?"

Roy looked nervous, but then his eyes glowed with resolve. "I watched this man fight the beast at the village. But it was no beast! It was you! You two are nothing but charlatans!" He nearly shouted.

Zack winced at the insult. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know that the villagers won't be happy when they find out a couple of frauds stole their last coin!" Roy snapped.

"What makes you so sure you'll live to tell them?" Cloud asked, from behind him.

Roy whipped around to face the mercenary. While undoubtably small, he was only two or three inches shorter than Cloud, though he still needed to tilt his head back a little. "You're deserters! There's only two reasons men desert armies; you either left to rejoin you're loved ones or you had no taste for killing. Seeing as no one is around, I'll wager its the latter, you're not the men to kill easily!"

Both Zack and Cloud flinched. The boy had struck further than he knew.

Zack gave a heavy sigh. "What must we do to ensure your silence? We have gold."

The boy gave him a disdainful glance. "Gold means nothing to me! Just because I hail from a peasant doesn't mean I'm desperate for your ill-fated coin!"

Cloud exchanged a look with his partner. "What is it you want then!"

The boy's calm demeanor shook. "Take me with you!"

"Not in the seven hells!" Cloud spat. "We barely manage to feed the two of us! We don't have time to babysit some useless kid!"

"I'm afraid he's right Roy," said Zack, ever the calm one. "Believe me you don't want the kind of life we lead!"

"I don't care how you live! I just need to get out of that village!" Roy snapped.

"You're head's filled with delusions of hero's charging into battle wielding swords!" Cloud snapped. "You speak of honor and nobility, well you'll find none here!"

This little speech earned him another hard stare. "I have no delusions about you two, your 'honor' means no more to me than the peasants hungry bellies mean to you!"

Zack shifted uncomfortably at the mention. "Liesten boy, even if you were to come with us, you're only about fourteen or fifteen, what use can you be to us?"

Knowing Zack was hinting at the boy's presumed helplessness, he cut the man off. "I have some skills neither of you possess!"

"Oh, such as?" Cloud asked scathingly.

"Brains!" Roy snapped. "Unlike you, I can convince village elders to hire me in half the time with no ill-will!"

"Their ill-will means nothing to me!" Cloud snarled through gritted teeth.

"Maybe, but how can you be sure the food they provided you with is not poisoned? That their coin is not fake? I heard some talk among them suggesting that!"

Now that made the two men pause. But Roy had not finished. "I have some other skills as well! I'm not some useless farm boy! I grew up in the wilderness, I know how to survive in these mountains better than anyone, I can also lead you to many other villages you may have over-looked!"

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTE: well now, that was an interesting turn huh? Please review and lemme know what you think!

Zack looked at Cloud. The mercenary was angry, Zack knew. Years of habit and routine were teethering on the edge. This boy had upset the balance in Cloud's life and he was not pleased.

"We cannot agree to this just yet, we need time to talk about this. Wait here, we must speak!" Zack said finally, motioning to Cloud to the edge of their camp. "And don't get any idea's, I'm making no promises!"

As soon as they had moved out of earshot, the boy brought his hands out from behind his back so that the two charlatans would not see them shaking.

XXX

"Well, what are we gonna do?" Zack asked Cloud, as they stood at the very edge of the fire-light.

Cloud grunted. "Get rid of him!"

"We can't do that Cloud, if word gets out of our scheme, it could be dangerous! And I must admit having someone guide us through these mountains would be a better idea than blundering around blindly!"

"Bah! I grew up here too! I know these mountains as well as he pretends to!"

"Cloud! Thus far we have been led astray more times than I can count! These mountains have changed since you've last been here! Settlements popping up where they weren't before and others disappearing, the boy will have a better knowledge than either of us!"

Cloud glared at his partner, unconvinced. "You seem very enthusiastic about having him along."

"I only think of what's best!"

"You're just looking for a new playmate!" Cloud snapped.

Zack winced. True, the dark-haired swordsman was a sociable one and months of seclusion were a torture to him. "Maybe, but at the very least he can get us out of these accursed mountains!"

"We got in, we can get out!"

"We entered the mountain near Rocker Town! We've wandered miles away from there and we don't know the way back!"

Cloud glared, he held no more argument.

"Besides, we can't let him go! I hate admitting it but he's right, I don't have it in me to kill him, and neither do you!" Zack concluded.

Cloud snorted. "Alright Zack, but its you're job to keep him alive, as far as I'm concerned, he's just another pack mule!"

With that the blonde mercenary stalked off. Zack sighed, but then brightened, a new face was certain to liven things up nicely.

The boy was sitting on a log near where they left him, he looked up uncertainly at Zack as he approached.

"We've decided we will take you with us, at least until we get out of the Nibel Mountains, after that I promise no more!" He said. "But," he cut in as the boy's eyes brightened. "We need to get a few things clear. Firstly we are not on some childish adventure, there will be danger of which you cannot imagine. You need to do some growing up on your own. Also, neither I, nor Cloud will be able to help you at every turn, you need to able to defend yourself, and neither of us has the time or the skill to teach you!"

The boy looked dampened, but Zack put his hand on his shoulders. "You made this choice, and now you have to abide by it, because we will not allow you to go back! Understand?"

Roy nodded. "Yes, I do. I've lived in these mountains my whole life. I'm used to danger, I know how to protect myself! I'll show you I can take care myself..."

"Zack," he said with a smile.

"Zack," the boy repeated with a nod.

"Well then, Master Roy, its been a pleasure. You better get used to roughing it up, we sleep on the ground now, do you have a blanket?"

The boy flushed and shook his head.

"Its alright, we have a spare, did you bring any provisions?"

Roy shook his head. "I didn't expect to follow you this far, I was only sneaking out to see if Cloud was real monster hunter!"

"Why did you still come, even though we aren't?" Zack asked.

Roy shrugged. "I don't really know. I just felt like I should! I've wanted to leave Nibelheim for ages."

"Why didn't you though?" Zack asked with a raised eyebrow. "From what I know boys leave their villages at your age if they wish."

The boy shrugged and whispered something that sounded like "complications to Zack.

"So you aren't bitter about the coin your village lost?" This was the last question Zack need to ask.

The boy scoffed. "Supersticious fools, they deserved it!"

Zack was more than a little surprised.

The boy gave him a smile. "I'm not going to cut your throats while you sleep. My hometown never meant much to me."

"Well, that's a relief, but no matter. Now, its not safe to sleep soundly in places like this, so we post watches. Usually Cloud and I take it in turns, now that you're here, you will have to as well. I'll wake you when its you're turn!"

With a last smile, Zack walked over to his partner and the two of them began conversing, soon he returned with a blanket from the wagon for Roy.

Roy shivered a little in the cold. For all his bravado, the boy was not used to these sleeping arangements. He huddled to himself and soon was lost in slumber, thinking of the night's events.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey kid! Time to wake up!"

The first thing Roy found himself gazing into were a pair of purple eyes.

"Its still dark!" He protested.

"Yup, that's the point, you're the last watch for tonight!" Zack said cheerfully.

Grumbling slightly, the boy sat up and rubbed his eyes. "You always so cheerful?"

"Pretty much," Zack answered with a smile.

"So what do I do?"

"Well, basically, you just have to stay awake and listen for the sounds of any danger. We're in a pretty isolated spot so the most you'll probably have to watch for is a pack of wolves or a bear at worst, just keep your eyes open and your ears peeled!"

Roy nodded, still trying to remove the sleep-gunk from his drooping eyes.

"Well then, I'm about to get some sleep, so stay alert! You should wake us around dawn."

Zack snuggled himself to sleep in his own blanket.

Getting to his feet, Roy staggered to the fire to stay warm. Wrapping his frayed woollen blanket around his small form to preserve any warmth, he sat on a fallen log, and began to stare at the dark trees.

XXX

After spending the rest of the night jumping at shadows and unseen phantoms, Roy was understandingly overjoyed as dawn's ribbon of light burst through the darkness of the night.

Hesitantly, he made his way over to the sleeping mercenaries.

Unsure, he decided to wake Zack first. Prodding him gently, he sighed in frustration as the dark-haired man did not rouse.

With a low growl, he gave up and walked to where a spikey mess of blonde hair lay soundly on the ground.

Kneeling near the gently snoring Cloud, he reached out a hand to wake him.

Quick as a flash, a hand gripped his and a small dagger shot out towards his throat.

Roy froze staring into deep blue eyes, as Cloud gazed at him menacingly.

"Don't ever wake someone up like that!" Cloud said between heavy breaths. "Yóu never know if you'll take the next breath!"

The boy gulped and felt the dagger tip against his gullet. Cloud lowered the dagger slowly. "And you might want to arm yourself. Without any means to defend yourself, you're as good as dead."

With a loud yawn, Zack stretched himself out. "Good you two are awake!" He said, as if they had slept in. "Well, we have just enough time for some breakfast, before we break camp!"

Cloud grunted and woke himself up. Dusting himself off he began to load his gear back into the wagon as Zack went about getting breakfast ready.

"Got any gear with you?" Cloud asked the boy.

Roy shook his head. "I only intended to follow you a mile or two, so I didn't bring anything. I'm used to surviving in these mountains, so I didn't worry about food or shelter."

"Just how did you expect to hunt without a bow or something?" Zack asked.

The boy said nothing, just gestured at his hands.

"Its pretty easy to catch a rabbit if you know how, and I know how to hunt for some winter birds."

Zack nodded, growing up in the wilderness, isolated from many towns, one learnt to survive.

"Well, its obvious you can survive on your own, but what happens if you're attacked by wolves, or even bandits?" Cloud asked.

"I can handle bandits and wolves can't climb trees," Roy answered without hesitation.

Cloud nodded. "What about swords? Knives? Any skills with weapons?"

"I'm a good shot with a sling," the boy replied.

"A sling won't keep you alive against a swordsman!" Cloud said coldly.

"Neither will an empty stomach," Zack interjected. "Food's ready now, so let's eat!"

Soon he had doled out three equal portions of oatmeal into their bowls.

"Is this...all we have to eat?" Roy grimaced, looking at the grey, lumpy mess.

"What'd you expect? Seasoned venison with asparagus?" Cloud snapped.

"There's no need to get angry!" Zack smoothly interupted at Roy flushed. "Oatmeal's not the tastiest of foods, but it can satisfy your hunger and keep your stomach full for hours if need be. Besides how much meat can we carry with us without it getting spoiled?"

"By the way, what did the villagers give us for food?" Cloud asked.

"A few loaves of bread and meat, but little else."

"Oh I wouldn't eat that meat if I were you," Roy said quickly.

"Why not?" Cloud asked, frowning.

"I'm pretty sure that's the stock the butcher was going to feed the dogs, not exactly fine cuisine, I wouldn't be surprised if old Tanis persuaded them to poison it!"

"Poison the meat?" Zack asked looking alarmed. "Why?!"

"Revenge," Roy answered easily. "Those stingy villagers aren't ones to part with their coin easily. You can be sure they've tampered with some of the provisions."

"What about the bread?"

"I'm certain they wouldn't do anything to it, the bread's always freshly baked, and the baker isn't as vengeful as our town's butcher," Roy said with a smile.

"What kind of poison are we talking about here?" Zack asked uneasily.

"Nothing too serious," Roy said without consideration. "At the very least it will upset your stomach, they wouldn't want to kill you, just make your life unpleasant."

Cloud sat down his empty bowl. "We've tarried too long, we need to get moving."

"Yes, but where to?" Roy asked.

"Well for starters I wouldn't be unhappy to see the back of this village," Zack replied.

The boy nodded. "Alright, before we leave these mountains, shouldn't we try another village?"

Cloud shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. How far out of our way will the village take us?"

"This village is called Bryndr," the boy replied. "It lies near the foot of the mountain."

"Well I suppose we could," Zack mused. "But it would delay us a few weeks! I think I speak for Cloud as well when I say the sooner we leave this mountain the better."

The boy's face split into a grin. "Yeah, you'd need to steal the livestock yourself and ensure the villagers would believe you!"

Zack raised an eyebrow. This boy was certainly a touch too perceptive.

"It just so happens that Bryndr sent word of a strange disease amongst the livestock not too long ago," Roy seemed almost gleefull at this point. "Our work is practically done already! All we need do is stage another sham-fight and by the time the villagers realise the livestock keep dying, we'll be long gone!"

Cloud glanced at Zack, his fellow mercenary's face mirroring his own. He wasn't so sure how the boy spoke, as if they were a team already.

"Say we go along with this scheme of yours, how do we work it? A beast that steals the livestock and leaves a bloody trail is easy to create, but a strange disease? How do we combat that?" Cloud asked.

The boy grinned. "Easy! Instead of dressing Zack as a beast, we turn him into a phantom!"

Cloud and Zack exchanged confused glances as the boy's enthusiatic grin dropped into a derisive scowl. He stalked towards the campfire which had been banked, with only ashes remaining.

To both merceneries' surprise, Roy scooped up a handful of ashes and marched up to Zack.

"How you two oafs got along without me is anyone's guess," he grumbles. "Mind bending down!"

Raising an eyebrow at the cocky lad's words, Zack relented and nearly fell over in shock as the boy smeared ash all over his face!

"What in Gaia's name are you doing?" He snapped staggering back.

Roy smirked. "Ashes to whiten your complexion!"

Cloud peered at Zack closely. The boy had a point. Zack's cheeks had turned pale white with gray streaks. In his mind's eye, he could picture his friend's entire face done in that way. He certainly could be a fearsome sight!

"It might work," he mused, unwilling to inflate Roy's ego any further.

"It will work," Roy insisted. "And we can use some red berries, to turn the inside of you're mouth blood red, and smear a little under your eyes, to make you look even more unreal!"

Now certainly interested, Zack forgot the violation the boy inflicted on him and laughed. "Well you may be on to something m'boy!" He said thumping Roy on the back, almost knocking him off his feet in the process.

Cloud was not entirely convinced. "True, but how do we kill him? I usually chop off his head, which is easy enough as its pinned to the body. But how do we visibly kill a phantom without hurting him?"

The boy's grin dropped faster than the temperature in the mountains. Clearly the thought had not yet crossed his mind.

"We'll figure that one out later, for now let's concentrate on breaking camp," Zack interrupted. "You say this village is near the foot of the mountain, so its on our way. If we don't figure out a way around this problem, we can still leave. How long will it take us to reach there?"

Roy's eyes screwed up in concentration. "About two days at a good pace. We'll have to backtrack a little bit. You two were heading in the wrong direction."

Zack gave Cloud look of superiority, which the blonde pointedly ignored.

XXX

Soon after, the three broke camp and began their trek down the mountain. Zack was pleasantly surprised to find the boy was a hardy one, easily keeping up with them without showing any visible signs of fatigue.

He also proved to be an efficient guide. He kept them moving at a good pace, showing them the best places to rest and even finding a cave for them to rest for the night.

"This is a good shelter," Cloud said, peering at it. "How can we be sure nothing has already claimed it?"

"Oh something has," the boy answered nonchalantly. He stooped and peered at something on the floor. "Bears," he affirmed, straightening up.

Both merceneries looked alarmed at the prospect, but Roy didn't seem to worried.

"A male by the looks of things. But the droppings are old. I think he's off with his latest lady-friend. It is mating season," he confirmed, stepping inside.

"How can we be sure he won't be coming back tonight?" Zack asked.

"Even if he is, a fire should keep him out. This area has plenty of caves. The bear that owns this territory is living quite comfortably, he probably has a good supply of resting places."


End file.
